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Democrats in the US House of Representatives and Senate are urging President Donald Trump not to ease national security restrictions on China for a trade deal, hours ahead of his expected meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. “America’s export controls, investment safeguards, and our long-standing security partnerships must not be on the negotiating table,” a group of 12 senators led by Chuck Schumer, the chamber’s top Democrat, wrote in a letter to the Republican president on...

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Few areas of China reflect the country’s decades-long economic transformation more vividly than its cities. Rapid development has turned villages into dense urban landscapes and already sizeable metro areas into some of the world’s largest population centres. As the rate of urbanisation slows and the country transitions into a new economic era, we explore how select Chinese cities are navigating the change. Read the rest of our series here. In a remote corner of China’s southwestern Guizhou...

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At last week’s fourth plenary session of the Central Committee of China’s Communist Party in Beijing, food emerged as a clear policy priority. The plenum’s communique highlighted the goal of accelerating China’s transformation into an agricultural power. A leading agricultural producer and importer and a significant exporter, China is doubling down on its next agricultural milestone ahead of the official approval of the 15th five-year plan (2026-2030) early next year. While detailed...

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US President Donald Trump’s administration needs to reverse the destructive policies undercutting America’s ability to compete with China in strategic hi-tech sectors or see Beijing race ahead, a leading member of the hardline US House Select Committee on China said on Wednesday. China’s commitment to the progress of tech innovation has caused unease in the United States, with Beijing’s continued investment in the industry standing in sharp contrast to the US government’s current shutdown and...

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American soybean farmers got some rare good news on Wednesday just hours before a high-stakes meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump when news broke that Beijing had placed its first order after months of trade tension that saw shipments blocked. The Trump administration hailed the move as a “positive step forward” for farmers, touting the “America first” leader’s deal-making prowess. US growers, meanwhile, called the purchase “encouraging” and said they’re...

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German Vice-Chancellor Lars Klingbeil is set to chair talks between his Social Democrat Party (SPD) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in Beijing next month, even after Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul was forced to postpone a trip to China after being unable to arrange enough meetings. The SPD and CCP meeting will take place in Beijing from November 17 to 19, several sources confirmed, as the two parties continue a long-standing tradition of dialogue. Klingbeil is the leader of the SPD, but...

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If the US hopes to rebuild a competitive shipbuilding industry and narrow China’s commanding lead, it should adopt some lessons from Beijing – emphasising long-term planning, steady government funding and policy consistency, witnesses told a US Senate hearing this week. China’s phenomenal rise in the global shipbuilding sector has caught the attention of Washington’s policymakers who are keen to restore the nation’s commercial fleet and production capacity, leading many to blame China for...

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China is expected to expand and modernise its nuclear arsenal to narrow the gap with the US and Russia following Beijing’s fresh pledge to strengthen its “strategic deterrence” to safeguard the global balance, according to analysts. The pledge was part of the proposed 15th five-year plan which was endorsed last week by the Communist Party’s Central Committee and will cover the years 2026-2030. Details of the proposal were released on Tuesday, including a pledge to “strengthen strategic...

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All eyes are now on Thursday’s meeting between President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump in South Korea. Their first in-person encounter since Trump’s return to office in January will build on several rounds of trade talks between the two sides that have touched on issues ranging from tariffs to export controls. In this explainer, the Post outlines the key pain points between the world’s two largest economies – and whether they are likely to be addressed. What issues may be agreed on by...

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Catch up on some of SCMP’s biggest China stories of the day. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing.

1. Why Trump’s unpredictability and inconsistency could hamper meeting with Xi As US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping attempt to stabilise US-China trade relations on Thursday, a major problem unlikely to go away, no matter what the outcome, is the disjointed signalling and mixed messaging coming out of Washington, undercutting trust and...

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A Solana-themed event in southern China that was cut short after a local policy inquiry has raised concerns in the country’s cryptocurrency community amid new warnings from Beijing about stablecoin risks, despite organisers attributing the disruption to overcapacity. The Solana blockchain’s Chinese community said on its official social media account that the Solana Accelerate APAC event in Shenzhen, held on Tuesday afternoon, was “exceptionally popular” and attendance far exceeded...

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China’s ambitious five-year strategic blueprint reveals its plan to become a global sea power, featuring pledges to secure its maritime periphery while countering American sanctions and other perceived external security threats. The aspirations were outlined in a broad policy document for the country’s 15th five-year plan adopted at the Communist Party’s fourth plenum last week in Beijing and released by state news agency Xinhua on Tuesday. While stressing “Chinese-style modernisation” through...

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The now-delayed meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Budapest, Hungary, could have been a turning point towards peace in Ukraine. Instead, it has revealed a deeper fault line. However, it is one that can be overcome. Even the Kremlin’s special envoy for investment and economic cooperation, Kirill Dmitriev, believes that the parties are close to an end to the war. The global community should offer an off-ramp and seek a middle ground amenable to...

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US President Donald Trump has signed a series of critical mineral agreements during his visit to Asia, in a bid to secure rare earth supplies and reduce dependence on China. Here, the Post examines how these deals differ in scale, scope and potential impact. What does the US-Japan framework cover? On Tuesday, the two countries signed an agreement to “support the supply of raw and processed critical minerals and rare earths crucial to the domestic industries of the United States and Japan”. While...

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China’s top leadership has pledged to build an immigration system to lure foreign talent in a move that may help increase its competitiveness amid the ongoing technological competition with the United States. In the blueprint for the five-year plan that starts next year, Beijing said it would “establish an immigration system for hi-tech talent”, and “attract and cultivate outstanding talent from around the world”. The plans, released on Tuesday following a major policy meeting of the party...

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Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang said he remained hopeful of returning to the China market, as US President Donald Trump signalled that the company’s state-of-the-art Blackwell artificial intelligence chips could feature in his coming talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Speaking on the sidelines of Nvidia’s flagship GTC (GPU Technology Conference) in Washington on Tuesday, Huang said he had “100 per cent confidence in President Trump’s ability to cut a great deal for America”. He noted...

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Beijing has staged a rare high-profile display of its bombers during drills near Taiwan – a clear signal to potential external parties – ahead of an expected summit between President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump in South Korea this week. Several H-6K bombers – one of the most advanced variants of the People’s Liberation Army’s H-6 family – recently carried out simulated confrontation drills over air and sea areas surrounding Taiwan, according to a programme broadcast by state-run...

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Using Richard Nixon’s “madman theory” of international relations, it appears that US President Donald Trump aims to pressure Russia and China into making significant concessions. His decision to impose sanctions on Russia’s oil giants, Rosneft and Lukoil, could not only impact the Russian economy but also the Kremlin’s energy cooperation with Beijing. Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Europe imported substantial amounts of Russian crude. While China has been the top individual...

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Highly anticipated talks between Xi Jinping and Donald Trump on the sidelines of the Apec summit are set for Thursday in Busan, South Korea – some 85km (53 miles) from the forum’s main events in Gyeongju – and security considerations could explain why as the two seek to make headway on issues that have left bilateral ties strained. On Wednesday, the Chinese foreign ministry announced that Xi and Trump would meet in Busan to “exchange views on bilateral relations and issues of mutual...

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Cheers erupted inside Xiaomi’s gleaming electric vehicle factory on the outskirts of Beijing when it recently welcomed its 100,000th visitor of the year – a tourist from Nanjing. The milestone, announced on the company’s Weibo account, came after it opened part of its car production facilities to the public in April 2024 – turning a once-secretive factory floor into one of Beijing’s hottest new attractions. Xiaomi now plans to increase public tours to 111 sessions a month in November, the...

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Beijing expelled a former senior official with an aerospace background and a military auditor from the top national legislature on Tuesday amid its deepening anti-corruption drive. The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress said on Tuesday that five officials had been removed from their NPC duties. The most senior of them is Xu Dazhe, former party secretary of Hunan province. The readout yesterday did not say if he was under a corruption probe but Xu, who left the party secretary...

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This month, the Post’s Xiaofei Xu sat down with Deng Li, China’s ambassador to France and Monaco, for an in-depth and wide-ranging interview. In part two, Deng discusses Beijing’s economic relationship with France and the EU. Part one can be found here. As Europe adapts to the changing nature of the global economy and the fast pace of technological innovation, China is ready to help the continent as it determines its role in emerging industries, Beijing’s top diplomat in Paris told the...

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In just one day, China dammed a huge river in two spots to build a mega hydropower project in the southwestern province of Sichuan, according to China Electric Power News under the National Energy Administration. The flow of the Yalong River, a secondary tributary of the Yangtze River, was intercepted as the first step in the construction of two large hydropower projects on Tuesday. They have a combined installed capacity of 2.7 million kilowatts (kW). Upon completion, these two hydropower...

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Soon after China put the electromagnetic catapults on its newest aircraft carrier to the test, US President Donald Trump has taken a swipe at the “stupid electric” technology – and called for a return to steam power. The advanced catapult launch system was originally developed by the United States to boost the performance of its aircraft carriers. But when he addressed US Navy sailors aboard the USS George Washington in Japan on Tuesday, Trump said he was serious about signing an executive order...

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Vice-Premier He Lifeng has vowed that China will continue to expand the “high-level opening up” of its financial sector and welcome more investment by foreign financial institutions and long-term capital. “China will unswervingly expand high-level opening up in the financial sector and accelerate the building of a modern financial powerhouse,” he said in a statement published on Tuesday. The Chinese vice-premier made the comments during a meeting with the National Financial Regulatory...

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